A Tentative Approach To the Evaluation Model of Web-based Distance Education For the Deaf

ABSTRACT: Building an effective evaluation model has been one of the important subjects for distance education workers. Based on the features and requirements of web-education, the authors design an instructional evaluation model for web-based distance education for the deaf. This paper is aimed to introduce the model. Key words: the deaf; evaluation of Web-based instruction; evaluation factors; evaluation model FORWORD The evaluation of Web-based instruction is the subcategory of education evaluation. It has three significations(value judgment, development estimation, reference criterion).Web-based instruction has its own bright feature, campareing with traditional instruction, such as separating teaching from learning, independent learning course(The learner must be self control, adult learner is as usual),and so on. Thus the evaluation of Web-based instruction also has its own bright feature. FEATURES OF THE EVALUATION OF WEB-BASED INSTRUCTION The evaluation of Web-based instruction emphasizes process assessment, that is, it focuses on the real-time monitoring of the instruction process. It includes assessing the effect of intelligent instruction and such teaching methods as search, discover, compete, co-operate and role-play, and evaluating students' initiative, self-controlling and leaning effect. The evaluation objects include not only the four factors of the traditional instructional system-the student, the teacher, the instruction content and the medium (i.e. the supporting platform o

An exploration of the potential of Automatic Speech Recognition to assist and enable receptive communication in higher education

The potential use of Automatic Speech Recognition to assist receptive communication is explored. The opportunities and challenges that this technology presents students and staff to provide captioning of speech online or in classrooms for deaf or hard of hearing students and assist blind, visually impaired or dyslexic learners to read and search learning material more readily by augmenting synthetic speech with natural recorded real speech is also discussed and evaluated. The automatic provision of online lecture notes, synchronised with speech, enables staff and students to focus on learning and teaching issues, while also benefiting learners unable to attend the lecture or who find it difficult or impossible to take notes at the same time as listening, watching and thinking

How Special Education Teachers of High School-Aged Students Address Sex Education

In this qualitative pilot study, five special education teachers of high-school-age students responded to seven research questions regarding how they address sex education, a part of family living from the Health Framework for California Public Schools. The participating special education teachers taught either in special education programs for the emotionally-disturbed(ED) or severely handicapped (SH). An overall identified theme for both groups of teachers was family participation. Other themes were teachers needing to be expert at understanding students learning styles and the need to be an expert at modifying goals for students learning. School nurses can help support and provide accurate information for teachers teaching family living content, as well as be a resource for discussing topics such as helping patients with mv infection or accessing current information regarding sexually-transmitted diseases, and facilitating making the information more real and understandable for special education students. School nurses can also support teachers teaching severely handicapped students by being a resource for information about their student population, in finding visual aids and program development and implementation

Exploring the Integration of Disability Awareness into Tertiary Teaching and Learning Activities

A desire to have every student attending our University be aware of, and reflect on, disability in their studies and future careers, initiated our project to explore how to enhance disability awareness within all our University’s papers. In this project we systematically reviewed pertinent literature and ran an action research workshop for staff. Strategies to enhance disability awareness identified in the literature and workshop were presented and verified at an interactive conference presentation. Embedding disability awareness into curricula is challenging; staff considered themselves powerless to bring about change in their departments, but thought that one way to do so would be by modelling inclusive behaviour and by introducing subtle inclusive practices into papers taught. The identified strategies may be of use to others contemplating similar curricular modifications

Synote: Multimedia Annotation ‘Designed for all'

This paper describes the development and evaluation of Synote, a freely available web based application that makes multimedia web resources (e.g. podcasts) easier to access, search, manage, and exploit for all learners, teachers and other users through the creation of notes, bookmarks, tags, links, images and text captions synchronized to any part of the recording. Synote uniquely enables users to easily find, or associate their notes or resources with any part of a podcast or video recording available on the web and the students surveyed would like to be able to access all their lectures through Synot

Valuing oral history in the community

CELT research project on changing practice through innovation and researchValuing Oral History in the community has developed out of the University���s involvement in the Wolverhampton Black and Ethnic Minority Experience Project (BEME). BEME is a collaborative project developed by a range of local community groups, the local council, colleges and the University which was established to document the experiences of members of the Black and Ethnic Minority communities in Wolverhampton in the post-war period. The rationale behind BEME was to create a community-based Oral History video archive and to promote the use of this unique source of community-based knowledge within a range of educational settings, to encourage curriculum development and enhance the learning experience of students. The aims of the innovation developed from my work with the BEME project, my own and others��� experiences of the value of doing Oral History with undergraduates and the desire to encourage the development of a more inclusive and diverse curriculum for the 21st century. Out of these aims three key objectives were developed

THE INFLUENCE OF TEACHERS WITH DISABILITIES

This meta-synthesis of the literature on K-8 teachers with disabilities examines the profound influence that teachers with disabilities can have in our classrooms. Teachers with disabilities act as valuable and realistic role models for all students and bring unique qualities to the classroom, including a passion for inclusive education and creative methods of instruction. However, prejudicial barriers to success often restrict these exceptional teachers from access to our classrooms, undermining the inclusion movement present in most special education programs and schools today. When these teachers are denied employment, students with disabilities suffer in and out of the classroom from a lack of identity construction, reduced self-esteem, and nonexistent advocacy skills

Developing communication skills in deaf primary school pupils: Introducing and evaluating the smiLE approach

Many profoundly deaf signers have difficulty communicating with hearing people. This article describes a therapy called ‘Strategies and Measurable Interaction in Live English’ (smiLE; Schamroth and Threadgill, 2007a), an approach used to teach deaf children skills to become successful communicators in real-life situations. This study evaluates the effectiveness of smiLE in helping deaf pupils develop their ability to make successful requests in a specific communication situation and whether this generalized to another communication situation. Sixteen severely and profoundly deaf primary school pupils (7.2—11.0 years old) received an 11-week programme of therapy. Their performances in a trained and an untrained communication situation were compared pre- and post-therapy. In the trained task, the pupils’ interactions improved significantly. No differences were found in the untrained task, suggesting that the learnt skills did not generalize. Anecdotal findings suggest that some carry-over into a similar situation had occurred and that trained skills were maintained. The smiLE therapy approach is effective in providing deaf children with the communication skills and confidence to interact with English speakers in targeted situations. The lack of generalization of these skills to similar situations may be overcome by a longer therapy programme that specifically promote these skills across different situations